For the last week, I've been going to bed at about 8:30 pm and am still waking up completely and utterly exhausted and depleted. I think our galeforce winds are sucking the life from me...like a Dilbert cartoon or something. Mother Nature is being a real monster.

I can see it, my soul being ripped from me and carried on the winds to god knows where. I need snow and I need to be outside. Neither of which I've been fortunate enough to enjoy for the last week or so. It's no way to live, people. It's no way to live.

My restlessness has been burgeoning, but now it seems to have imploded. I'm like a caged animal!

Anyways, irritability has seeped into even my grocery shopping! Normally, a bourguignon has pearl onions in it. If you're a skrillionmillionaire, then go ahead and saute them with the mushrooms. I decided not to drain my 401k, and so I left the tiny$6 pack of pearl onions at the store. Annoyed, as I stood there staring at the expensive little cuties, I concluded that my bourguignon would be fine without them.

Despite the absence of pearl onions, this bourguignon is rich with flavor. Hearty chunks of beets and red potatoes mingle with thick slices of portobello mushrooms and meaty lentils for a filling meal.

Red Potato and Beet Bourguignon

Notes: If you'd like this more stew like, just double the wine and vegetable stock.

Lentils:

2 cups green or brown lentils, dry

4 cups water

Sustenance:

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

6 medium beets, peeled and chopped

4 medium red potatoes, chopped

3 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Flavoring:

8 oz. red wine

16 oz. vegetable stock

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

Mushrooms:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 large portobello mushrooms, sliced

10 crimini mushrooms, quartered

Thickening:

2 tsp. arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)

1 Tbsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils and water. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until almost tender. Drain and set aside.

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the onion and garlic. Saute a few minutes, until the onion begins to turn translucent. Add in the remaining sustenance ingredients and cook for 5 additional minutes. Add in the flavoring ingredients and continue to cook, covered, for 20 more minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add in the mushrooms. Saute for about 5 minutes over medium-low, until shrunken and dark and all the water has evaporated.

In a small bowl, mix together the thickening ingredients then pour into the soup pot and stir to combine.

Add the cooked lentils and mushrooms to the soup pot and stir.

Remove bay leaves and serve hot! Top with nutritional yeast if you like.